Gambling With Food
by CorrinaTFF
Summary: From Twifans for Haiti Compilation: Dinner could be a disaster until it is made fun with family and friends.


**Disclaimer:****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer. As much as I'd love to be, I am not in any way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**A/N: Each and every one of you is wonderful for making a donation to help give some relief to the victims of the earthquakes which rocked Haiti. This fandom astounds me with the generosity it continues to show. MsKathy, Hopey and TwilightMundi, you are all wonderful human beings for pulling this project together for the fandom.**

**Thank you to my wonderful Carabeth for betaing on such short notice. You are an angel. **

**This is a work in progress which will not be released for some time. SITBR needs my attention first. Please enjoy. **

**I did have to change the title for this piece simply because I want it for the entire piece. So welcome to formally known as "For Everything There is a Reason". **

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"There's no way to save that chunk of…meat, Bella." Jasper gulped, eyeing my charred mess as he wrapped his arm around Alice's shoulders.

"Bro, I got twenty bucks says she can make an amazing dinner with what she has in this kitchen." Emmett winked at me, and I smiled wide at the confidence the big lug had for me. I had saved him when he tried to make a meal for Rose for Valentine's Day. He had wanted to propose that night, making it the most romantic time ever for her. Dinner had been so badly cooked or undercooked, in one case. The memory made me smile, and I decided this little game of his was enough for me to forgive him for his teasing of me earlier.

"Oh, it is on, Emm!" Jasper let go of Alice, pulled out his wallet and slammed a twenty dollar bill down on the counter in front of him. Emmett dug in his rear pocket for his wallet, pulled it open and found nothing.

"Shit!" He spat then dug in his front pockets fishing out a grouping of wadded up bills.

"Emmett Cullen! Mouth." Esme's nostrils flared slightly as she berated him.

"Sorry, Mom," he mumbled as he continued pulling crumpled bills and loose change from his jean pockets. He beamed as he straightened bill after bill to come up with the needed cash. Every unfolded bill brought on another tick of nervousness for me.

"Ha! Anyone else want to bet against Bells making something out of this sh-stuff?" He corrected himself before Esme could again scold him with disapproval.

I heard Carlisle laugh and looked up to see him and Edward in a whispered conversation. Edward and I locked gazes, and he gave me a meek smile. My palms began to sweat, and I felt the heat build in my chest again. It wasn't that I didn't have the confidence in myself, but Emmett's overconfidence in me was a bit unnerving. I quickly turned my attention back to my task. I started to reach for my knives when Emmett stopped me.

"Wait!" I paused and turned around to see what the problem was because I really wanted to get started before the meat completely cooled.

"Anyone else want to bet against me before Bells gets started?"

"I am _not_ a gambling man." Carlisle simply stated as he walked up behind Esme and wrapped his arms around her waist, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek. She placed her arms over his and gently squeezed his forearms. I loved seeing them like this. Being in the presence of a love like theirs always gave me hope.

"I wouldn't dare bet against you, Bella. I've heard of a certain 'miracle' you performed." She looked pointedly at Emmett, and I had to stifle my giggle by coughing. It came out sounding more like a choke, so I doubt it had fooled anyone.

"Though I have never heard of said miracle, nor have I tasted much of your cooking, I doubt anyone could salvage any kind of meal from a blackened mound such as this." Edward nodded at the meat, placed a twenty down on the counter and slid it toward Emmett.

"Cousin, I am going to enjoy taking your money from you." Emmett was smiling so wide you could almost glimpse where his wisdom teeth had once been.

After watching Edward bet against me, I had a new vigor instill itself in me. "You want to time me Emmett?" I asked while grabbing my fillet, butcher, and chopping knives and laying them out. I pulled my plastic cutting board out for my vegetables and the wooden cutting board for the meat.

"Jasper set your watch. Can you do it in thirty minutes, Bells?" Emmett asked.

I smiled, knowing I could easily throw something together in that time. "Watch me."

"Say when." Jasper grinned cockily with his watch at the ready.

I looked to Edward, pointing my fillet knife in his direction. "I hope you like crow, Edward. You and Jasper will be having a meal of it when I am through." Where had my assuredness come from?

"I will happily eat crow from any cook able to salvage meat from this smoking, charred lump." He said as he grimaced, pointing to the charcoal-like substance sitting in the roasting pan.

"Time me, Jasper … Now!" I stabbed the roast with the fillet knife and took the butcher knife out quickly chopping the butt of the meat off both sides of the roast releasing some of the pressure from it. I pulled my fillet knife out, quickly inserting it into one end and making short work of releasing the burned portions of the meat from around the roast. I quickly moved to the other side and did the same. I grabbed a skillet and started the fire on the stove under it. As I shred what was left of the roast, I threw it into the pan. I got into the refrigerator and pulled out a whole white onion, half a bulb of garlic and the cilantro. I reached for my stock pot and started boiling water for some egg noodles. I made quick work of chopping the onion and threw it in the skillet with the meat, adding a couple of tablespoons of EVOO then placed the lid over it so the onion would cook more thoroughly. After dicing the garlic, I chopped the cilantro and set them both aside. I pulled out the ingredients for a light dinner salad, chopped and diced and tossed it all together in our family sized wooden salad bowl. I added the garlic to the skillet, giving the ingredients a quick stir before placing the lid back on top and moved to the pantry to gather my ingredients for a pepper vinaigrette. I poured then shook the pepper vinaigrette in a covered carafe and removed the egg noodles from the water. After shutting the burners off, I poured the noodles into a large casserole dish then grabbed the skillet, spilling the meat and herb mixture over the top. I set the skillet back on the stove, gripped the vinaigrette carafe and poured it over the salad, then gave the salad a few tosses. "Time!" I spouted out, throwing my arms up in the air.

"Sweet!" Emmett came around scooped me up in his arms and held me bridal-style. I couldn't help but giggle as I threw my arms around his neck to hug him. I knew I had done it within a half hour without even looking at the microwave clock.

"Give it to us, Jazz. We can take it." Emmett squeezed the leg he was palming while holding me, beaming so wide that you could glimpse his entire gum line.

Jasper looked at his watch, "Twenty-seven minutes. Shit, Bells! If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't have believed it." He shook his head but stopped suddenly, quirked his brow and smirked in our direction. "But, is it edible?"

"Of course it's edible!" Emmett blurted out. "Did you not see the awesomeness of Bella?" He placed me down on my feet, and I moved to the drawer behind Emmett, grabbing a fork.

"Care to be the guinea pig, Jazz?" I waved the fork in the air in front of me. "Or are you too chicken?" I clucked my tongue and stuck the fork in the dish being sure to gather at least one noodle along with the meat and herb mixture.

"Erm … well…I mean…" Jasper paused and Emmett boomed a loud bit of laughter.

"Yeah, he's chicken alright! Gimme that fork, Bells!" Emmett put his fist over my hand and pulled the fork to his mouth, eagerly taking in the bite. "Oh my God!" He spat out through the bite. "None of you can eat this!"

I was horrified. I couldn't believe I had messed the meat up that bad because of my conversation with Edward out on the back patio. I would never hear the end of this from Jasper.

"Ha ha! I will gladly take your money, my man!" Jasper cheered.

Emmett quickly gulped down the food in his mouth and grabbed the bills from Jasper's hands before speaking again. "Hell no! I said none of you could eat it. I didn't say it wasn't edible. It's actually really good!" He spun around and looked at me. "Great job, Bells. You can ruin my favorite roast anytime you want as long as you make this again!" He went to jab the fork back in the dish, and I slapped the back of his hand to halt his assault on the dish.

"Go sit down, Emmett. This food is for everyone, not just you," I chided. "Rose, would you be so kind as to grab the salad and Alice, the salad bowls please?" I grabbed the casserole dish and walked into the dining area, setting it down in the center of the table. Carlisle began pouring the Shiraz for us all as the girls walked in with the salad. Edward walked in behind them seemingly stifling a grin. His lips kept puckering and pulling back into a tight line repeatedly while his brow furrowed.

I had to admit I was very pleased with myself and couldn't stop the statement from spilling out of my mouth. "So Edward, how do you like your crow?"


End file.
